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Hynes sets coaching record

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SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Both the odds and John Hynes' confidence worked in favor of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton coach picking up a historic win.

The only question was when.

The answer was Saturday.

Paul Thompson, Joey Mormina and Trevor Smith each scored for the Penguins and goalie Jeff Zatkoff was sensational with 29 saves as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton topped Syracuse 3-2 at the Onondaga County War Memorial.

The win snapped a six-game winless streak and boosted Hynes to the top of the franchise's career coaching wins list, with 116. He had been tied for Glenn Patrick at No. 1.

After the game, the players presented Hynes with a game puck.

"It's more than the record. It's nice for our team to come out here, work hard,'' Hynes said. "I thanked them for the effort. It's a tribute to a combination of things. A lot of our players have been a big part of it.''

Hynes said his team's slump only made him more optimistic that a win was imminent.

"When you're going through it, you know a win is going to come around the corner,'' he said. "There was more good going on than bad. It's just that we weren't getting the good results."

The Penguins took a 3-2 lead in the third and then choked off the AHL's highest-scoring offense, limiting the Crunch to five shots in the final 20 minutes. The defensive effort was the product of an overall focus after the Pens blew a 3-0 lead in a loss to Binghamton on Wednesday.

"They have some good players,'' Mormina said. "But if they have to go 200 feet and through our goalie, we like our chances.''

The Crunch rallied for a late push to cut the Pens' lead to 3-2 after two. Tyler Johnson cashed in when he popped a rebound off Radko Gudas' shot from the right point over Zatkoff's right shoulder with 1:15 remaining.

Smith, a former Crunch player, sent Wilkes-Barre/Scranton ahead by two with 9:40 left in the second. Eric Tangradi tested Crunch goalie Dustin Tokarski with a shot from the right side, and the goalie stuck his left leg in the way. But the rebound made a beeline to the stick of Smith, who hit the target on the upper right side for a 3-1 Penguins cushion.

An exchange of goals just 14 seconds apart in the first shook out with the Pens taking a 2-1 lead into the intermission.

Mormina got the final say in that exchange, ripping a long shot from the left point through traffic and past Tokarski to snap a 1-1 tie with 10:25 left. The goal was the first of the season for the veteran defenseman.

"One of the things we talked about was responding after goals,'' Mormina said. "I was able to put one on net and the goalie never saw it.''

That countered a great effort by Alex Killorn that put Syracuse on the board at the 9:21 mark. Killorn took a feed from J.T. Wyman, and breezed down the right wing. He cut to the middle, patiently moving across the flow of traffic, and finally picked his spot into the left side of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton net.

The Crunch pushed hard to knot the game later in the period, but Zatkoff would have none of that. With 5:13 left in the first and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on a power play, the goalie stoned Wyman point-blank from just outside the crease.

With 3:49 remaining, Ondrej Palat lined up a clear shot from the left circle, but Zatkoff coolly batted it aside.

"He made important saves when we needed him,'' Hynes said of his goalie. He was a calming influence in the game.''

Thompson posted the contest's first goal on his team's third shot. As the Penguins skated on a power play, Brian Gibbons sent a pass his way to the left side of Tokarski. Thompson quickly lined up his options and settled on roofing a shot over Tokarski's glove, snapping a streak of 27 straight unsuccessful power plays for the Penguins.Winngest coach in team history

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